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Monday, October 5, 2015

Dan Hagen, Time Master

Within a half-century
span, comic books can effectively operate as limited-range time machines for me.

Because I loved them so
much when I was young, just reading a Silver Age story can take me back to that
precise moment in that spring of 1960 when I was 5 and the world’s colors all
seemed as vivid as those four in the comics, or that autumn of 1962 when I was
7 and the civilization of the planet Earth actually faced destruction, or that January
of 1966 when I was 11 and one of my superheroes was, wonder of wonders, suddenly
the biggest hit on television.

So reading a feature like Rip Hunter, Time Master is an ironic
experience in seeing time, both real and fictional, collapse upon itself,
something like one of those paintings of an infinite regression…

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About Dan Hagen

"This trenchant commentary, which makes the big syndicated "on-the-other-hand" columnists look like Goebel Gerbils, is why I still believe that real journalism gets done most often at the personal newspaper level. Thanks for sharing this. Dan follows one of journalism's proudest traditions!"
— Paul McMasters, the First Amendment ombudsman for the Freedom Forum, on Dan Hagen’s newspaper columns

Why Odin's ravens?

Perched on the shoulders of the Norse god Odin are the pet ravens Huginn and Muninn, whose names mean “Thought” and “Memory.” At Odin’s bidding, they fly across the face of the world and bring him knowledge. In the 13th century Poetic Edda, Odin reveals that he fears that they may not return from their daily flights. He has pampered his pets by rewarding them with the ability to speak, and it’s truth that they tell, even though the Raven is, of course, a Trickster.

Product Warning

"This article contains a significant amount of intelligence, analytic fact, common sense and eloquence. If you suffer from a 'freeze-dried' FOX News brain or enjoy a Rush Limbaugh lifestyle of blissful ignorance, avoid reading, as it may be hazardous to your health. A major side effect is thoughtful reflection." — Ian McDonald

Copyright

I love crows and ravens for their wisecracking voices and for that black-on-black gleam of sagacity in their eyes. They figure things out. They see us. They know us for what we are, which is why they keep a wary distance but remind us, with their taunts, that they are not overly impressed.